Help in Unexpected Places
by AnimeFreak4261
Summary: Sakura is being beaten by her boyfriend,Naruto,after rumors start getting aaround about her sleeping with Sasuke. Desperate,she begs Tsunade and gets assigned to Suna.Will she get help from the person she least expected? Full sum inside. Rated T GaaxSaku
1. Leaving

Help in Unexpected Places

**Summary :** It's been years since Sasuke left, and Naruto and Sakura are dating. But when a rumor started going around(curtisy of the hyuuga heiress) about Sakura sleeping and possibly doing it with Sasuke while Naruto and Sakura were dating, and Naruto hears, he turns to beating Sakura. Confused, Sakura begs Tsunade for a mission and gets sent to Suna. Discovered crying one night on the roof of her apartment, will she confess her feelings to the person she least expected help from? GaaraxSakura.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own naruto. If I did...well, I don't think you wanna know.

**Note:** Naruto is extremely OOC as is Hinata.

"Bla" talking.

"YOU LITTLE WHORE!! HOW DARE YOU SLEEP WITH HIM!!" Naruto yelled in Sakura's ear before slamming her, face first, against the wall, breaking her nose in the process. Sakura whimpered as she was pulled back and punched in the mouth, sending her flying across the room. Naruto stormed over and yanked her hair up.

"B-but I didn't sleep with him Naruto!" Sakura pleaded. She really had no idea as to why Naruto was beating her. She didn't do anything.

"LIAR!" Naruto screeched, threw her on to the floor and started kicking her. Each kick was harder than the last, until a resounding crack echoed through the room and burning pain seeped through Sakura's body. She had broken a rib again. Naruto didn't care. He picked up her arm and twisted it until it broke with a snap. Sakura bit her lip to keep from screaming in pain. Naruto smirked and laughed at her pain. He picked her up and threw her against the wall again, before taking out a kunai and walking over to her body. He smirked as he dragged it slowly across her skin, earning a scream of pain from the pink haired kunoichi. He stabbed her one more time in the arm before he tied up her arms with chakra restraints so she couldn't heal herself, and left. Sakura started crying. Her tears mixed with the blood on her face. Her blood. She hadn't done anything to deserve this. She knew she should fight back but she couldn't. The first time she tried that, she had nearly died from all the broken bones Naruto gave her. This compared to that was nothing. Sometimes he would even attach exploding tags to her arms and legs and set them off so she was paralyzed. Sakura stopped crying and hoisted herself up from the ground by her shoulders. When she was standing, she walked over to the door and opened it with her nouth and walked to the Hokage tower where she would be healed by Tsunade.

**Hokage Tower**

"Again Sakura?" Tsunade asked her pupil. She had seen Sakura walk in in a critical condition. Tsunade knew what happened and immediatly set to work healing Sakura and removing the restraints. After half an hour, Sakura was well enough to sit by herself and talk, so she would have to answer Tsunade's questions.

"Yes Tsunade-sama. I don't understand it. Why is he beating me? I didn't do anything wrong. It's not fair Tsunade-sama."

"I know."

"Tsunade-sama..." Sakura asked in a quiet whisper.

"Yes?"

"Can I have a mission? I need to get away from here and the frequent beatings. Please?"

"...Ok Sakura. But it's not really a mission. I'm just assigning it to you because you need to relax. I'm letting you take a two week vacation in Suna. No one will know but us and the guards, so leave early in the morning so no one will notice you. Here is a scroll. Give it to the guards in Suna to gain entrance. Go home and pack now so you are ready to leave at 1:00 am." Tsunade explained while writing out something in a scroll, signing it and giving it to Sakura. As she looked over her pupil, she could see the scars that would forever be there, thanks to a certain ninja. Sakura knodded and left immediatly afterwards.

**Sakura's house**

Sakura ran home and quickly opened her door, shutting afterwards. She went to her room and grabbed her pack for missions, filling it with clothes, and other essentials. She then went to her kitchen, grabbing enough food and plenty of water. Finished, Sakura crawled into bed, setting her alarm and waiting for 1:00 am to come.

Me: ok, listen up. Don't get any big ideas for this story because i have completely lost my idea that i had for it. If i get it back, it'll be updated soon like the rest of my stories. If not, only every once in awhile. Please Review!


	2. Arriving

Help in Unexpected Places

**Summary :** It's been years since Sasuke left, and Naruto and Sakura are dating. But when a rumor started going around(curtisy of the hyuuga heiress) about Sakura sleeping and possibly doing it with Sasuke while Naruto and Sakura were dating, and Naruto hears, he turns to beating Sakura. Confused, Sakura begs Tsunade for a mission and gets sent to Suna. Discovered crying one night on the roof of her apartment, will she confess her feelings to the person she least expected help from? GaaraxSakura.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own naruto. If I did...well, I don't think you wanna know.

**Note:** Naruto is extremely OOC as is Hinata.

"Bla" talking.

_'Bla' thoughts_

**'Bla' Inner Sakura/Shukaku**

**Forest**

Sakura pulls on her bag strap again as it slips down her shoulder. She had been traveling for almost 3 days now and would soon arrive in Suna. Thinking back, Sakura wonders who was spreading rumors about her. Tears sprung to her eyes at the thought of Naruto but she fought them back. She would not cry any more. Sakura promised herself that she would try to forget about Naruto and what he did to her on this vacation. She fiercely wiped away the tears and focused on the soon ending forest. She hopped onto the ground and looked out. Sand. Everywhere. Sakura stared at it. A slight wind blew, stirring it up. Sakura sighed and set off, dragging herself through the endless sand dunes. A particularly strong gust rose sand and blew sand into Sakura's eyes, causing her to stop to get rid of it. Sakura sighed. What was the point? It's not like she had any friends in Suna, but she did remember Tsunade saying that she would be staying with the sand siblings. Oh joy. A guy who plays with dolls, a serial killer, and an extremely violent girl. Gee, sounds fun. Sakura sighed(again) as the Suna gates came into view. She walked up to one of the guards and handed over her scroll. The guard took it, scanned it over, then handed it back, saying she was free to pass. Sakura nodded and walked through. Inside the gates the wind was less harsh. Looking around, Sakura gasped. Suna was beautiful in it's own way. The elegantly shaped buildings that seemed artistic, the desert flowers, blooming freely, adding vibrant splashes of color to the village. Sakura smiled slightly and walked up to what she thought was the Kazekage building, considering it was the biggest building in the village. Entering the doors, Sakura sighed in relief and looked around, taking in the building's design. Deep orange-red walls covered with laws, signs, and pictures of the old Kazekages. A few deep brown chairs for waiting people and dark brown almost black tile floor. Sakura walked over to the secretary, who had her back to Sakura. The hair seemed formiliar(sp?) but she couldn't place it.

"Excuse me." the secratary spun around to reveal...

"Temari?"

"Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, um, just visiting. Tsunade sent me here for a vacation." Temari snorted.

"Not the most relaxing place." Sakura nodded.

"I need to see Kazekage-sama."

"You mean Gaara? Sure, he's open. He should be in his office. Go right ahead. Third door on your left." Sakura thanked her and walked up the stairs, slightly nervous. I mean, the last time she saw this guy, he had nearly killed her. Oh well. Sakura took a deep breath and knocked on the solid oak door. A quiet 'come in' was heard, so she opened the door. Gaara was sitting at his desk, doing paperwork.

"Temari, if this is another thing about me taking a break-" Gaara started stoicly until Sakura cleared her throat. Gaara raised his eyes to look at her and put down the paper he was reading, looking directly at Sakura, who hesitated before speaking.

"Um, Kazekage-sama-'Gaara scowled.

"Call me Gaara. I get sick of everyone calling me Kazekage-sama." Sakura nodded and started again.

"Gaara-san, Tsunade-sama sent me here for a three week vacation. She said that I was supposed to stay with you." Sakura said quietly before handing over the mission scroll. Gaara's eyes narrowed. What was with her? The last time he had seen ner, she was more outspoken. Something was up, but Gaara decided not to pry into her life. He took the scroll, scanning over it. He nodded and handed it back. Pushing a button on his desk, he spoke into a small speaker.

"Temari, come escort Sakura-san to our home, where she will be staying. Show her to her room, then take her shopping for things she might need." a slightly fuzzed reply came, then the speaker turned off. Gaara leaned back in his chair and waited, observing Sakura. She was hesitant with everything, marks and scars once littered her face and hands, but she had healed them, or someone else had, but Gaara saw them. She seemed too skinny and deathly pale, even for her. Her rosette hair was dull and ragged, possibly from being yanked on. Her emerald eyes were dull, the playful light gone from them. They flicked everywhere, almost nervously. Her slight figure trembled slightly, even from the warm weather. She constantly shifted back and forth, and she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her hands. He could see almost invisible tear stains on her cheeks. All these were the signs that she had been abused. Who would abuse her, Gaara didn't know, but decided that that was the reason she had been sent here. To get away from it. Temari opened the door and smiled, leading Sakura away after she bowed to Gaara. He sighed. Something was wrong with that girl, but it wasn't his place to ask.

**With Sakura and Temari**

Temari stuck up a conversation with Sakura as she led her down a road that was slightly off to the side of the others. Walking along it, Sakura gave another half hearted reply to a question Temari had asked and returned to her thoughts. Back in the office, she had felt Gaara gaze on her and felt that he could see all the signs that she desperatly(sp?) tried to cover up of her being abused. She silently thanked Temari when she had walked in and had to restrain herself from running from the office. Sakura snapped back to reality when Temari spoke after a long silence.

"Well, we're here." Sakura turned her head to the front to look at the house. It was definatly big. No, not big, huge. Not even huge. It was frikin mansion for pete's sake! The 3 story mansion was a beautiful deep brown color that blended with it's surrounding's. It had a big, blood red Sand gourd on it that symbolized Suna. Sakura stood in awe as Temari smirked at her reaction. She then lead Sakura inside and pointed everything out. Apparently, you could get to the entire first floor from one, white marble hallway in the middle.

"That's the kitchen. It attaches to the living room where we have one of our TV's." Temari said as she pointed through an archway into a huge kitchen filled with every appliance possible. The cupboards were a dark red mahogany and the walls were a wine red, with chocolate brown appliances. The living room had two couches, a chair, a book case and right in the middle, a huge plasma screen TV with dvd's and movies surrounding it. The walls were a dark chocolate brown and the couches and chair were a roan(brown) red. Temari showed her the first floor bathroom, the game room, the workout room, the outside battle arena, the inside battle arena, the indoor pool and hot tub, and the library filled with possibly every book in existance. The second floor had all of the bedrooms.

"This is Gaara's room. Do not enter unless he gives you permission." Temari explained as she stopped at the first black wood door on the left in the deep red hall. A little further down, on the right was the second door.

"Kankuro's room. He doesn't like you in there, but it's ok if the door is open." Temari said as she passed it, heading to the next door on the left hand side.

"My room. Since your a guest, you can come to me if you have a question. My door is always open, unless it's something really important." Temari said as she smiled. She then led Sakura to the last door on the right.

"This will be your room." Temari said as she opened the door. Sakura walked inside and froze.(AN:I want my room to look like this.) The walls were a wine red with black trim bordering the black ceiling. There was a thin line of gold beneath the trim. The floor was a beautiful black hard wood oak floor. The canopy bed had wine red sheets, black over-hangings, with black pillows that had a gold stripe across the middle. There was a side table on the right that was black oak with a gold knob with a gold lamp and a wine red lamp shade on it.. On the other side there was a window that had black curtains which were open, giving a fantastic view of the village. There were 2 other black mahogany doors. One led to the bathroom. It had a black sunken tub(AN: like the ones in the floor), a black sink with a gold faucet and gold handles. The shower was a wine red shower curtain with a gold shower head and black tile walls. The towels were wine red and the toilet was black with a gold handle. The other, on the left side, led to a huge walk in closet that was filled with tons of clothes and shoes. There was even a big cupboard of weapons. Sakura was amazed. The room was huge. Bigger than her apartment. Sakura took a step forward, then ran and jumped onto the bed, lying on it. She threw her bag onto her bed and ran to hug Temari.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it! Oh, thank you so much! Let's go shopping now." Sakura squealed as she dragged Temari down the hall and outside. Temari smirked. Sad and hesitant to happy and jumpy in 15 seconds flat. This would be interesting.

**Me: Hi! I hope you like it. I came up with an idea, and since so many people liked it, I chose to update. Please review!**


	3. Shopping and Meals

Help in Unexpected Places

**Summary :** It's been years since Sasuke left, and Naruto and Sakura are dating. But when a rumor started going around(curtisy of the hyuuga heiress) about Sakura sleeping and possibly doing it with Sasuke while Naruto and Sakura were dating, and Naruto hears, he turns to beating Sakura. Confused, Sakura begs Tsunade for a mission and gets sent to Suna. Discovered crying one night on the roof of her apartment, will she confess her feelings to the person she least expected help from? GaaraxSakura.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own naruto. If I did...well, I don't think you wanna know.

**Note:** Naruto is extremely OOC as is Hinata.

"Bla" talking.

_'Bla' thoughts_

**'Bla' Inner Sakura/Shukaku**

**Suna, Marketplace**

Temari smirked as Sakura dragged her into another store, gasping at all of the fine jewelry that was made in Suna. Temari had dragged Sakura to the weapons shop long enough to get some fan polish and some poison for when she wanted to kill an enemy fast. Sakura was silent the entire time, looking around the shop with an awed expression. When Temari said she was done, Sakura nodded and dragged Temari out the door and down the marketplace street again, hence, they were here. Sakura walked into the shop and gazed around at the walls. Everywhere was magnificant jewelry in every color. Sakura gasped and ran up to an emerald and silver necklace with matching earrings. The silver necklace chain was thin until it became tear-drop shaped. The hanging part was more slightly feather shaped. Each silver tear drop had a small, sparkling emerald jewel inside of it, surrounded by silver. The earrings had a small tear drop with an emerald, which went into a small silver chain, ending in a larger, upside down silver tear drop also with an emerald. Sakura stared in awe as she carefully picked it up, holding it to her neck. It accented her hair and brought out her eyes, making her eyes and the emeralds sparkle more. Temari gasped when she saw it.

"That is the perfect necklace for you Sakura! You have to buy it!" Temari exclaimed as she lightly touched the glittering jewels. Sakura smiled and looked at the price tag. She frowned when she saw it was out of her price range. She sighed and looked at it one last time before putting it back and walking out of the store digectedly(sp?). Temari frowned and went up to the shop owner, asking him to put the necklace on hold. He nodded and took the necklace, putting it under his desk. Temari thanked him and exited. She found Sakura in a smoothie shop, sipping a mango smoothie, staring into space. Temari walked up to her, worried.

"You ok?" Sakura jerked back to reality and nodded. Temari looked at her intently and slowly nodded. She ordered a kiwi smoothie and they sat in silence as they both sipped, thinking. It wasn't until Gaara entered that they snapped back. Temari looked over and waved to Gaara, who walked over and stood beside their table.

"I am guessing you have showed her around the mansion?" Temari nodded, sipping her smoothie.

"Given her a tour of the village?" Temari nodded again. Gaara nodded back and spoke again.

"Supper is in two hours." he stated and vanished in a swirl of dust. Sakura looked at her watch and noticed it was 4:30 pm. She looked down at the bags that Temari had dropped. There were about 15, all were hers. Most were clothes, others were stuff she probably didn't need, the rest were weapons. They had spent the whole day shopping. Wow. Sakura sweat dropped. She sighed and stood, throwing out her empty smoothie cup, and picked up some of her shopping bags. Temari looked at her, then also threw out her cup and collected the rest of the bags, following Sakura out the door. Back on the dusty street, they walked slowly back towards the mansion, talking about whatever came up. Soon, they arrived and it was 6:20. They were 10 minutes early, so they took that time to put away Sakura's new things, and then Temari went down to bake supper. Sakura put away her last little bit of stuff and started to the hallway, to be met with a not very appetizing but not discusting smell. She followed it to the kitchen and found Temari making Kayu and Sashimi(Sashimi is raw seafood. It can be enjoyed with soy sauce. Kayu is rice gruel, watery, soft cooked rice that resembles oatmeal.) Sakura walked in and Temari looked up.

"Hey! Suppers almost done. You can go sit at the table." Temari smiled and pointed at the dining room table. Sakura nodded and walked over, sitting in the seat beside the one that was to the right of the head of the table(Confusing, ne?). Soon, Temari finished and brought out the pan, setting it down as she spooned even portions into the dishes already set out. She then yelled up the stairs that dinner was ready and sat down beside Sakura, to the right of the head of the table. Kankuro and Gaara came and joined them. Kankuro looked at the food like it was a living thing with two heads.

"Hey Temari, did you make this?" he asked, to be responded with a proud nod from his sister. He gagged and pushed it away while Gaara stared at it. Temari pouted and started yelling at Kankuro.

"Eat it, or you won't get anything later. Atleast this one turned out ok. You want me to make Okonomiyaki(it is somewhat of a cross between pizza and pancakes)?" Temari half yelled. At this, Kankuro turned green and Gaara shook his head slowly. Once Kankuro had changed back, they all began to eat.

Everyone finished and Temari and Sakura cleared the table and began washing an drying dishes. Sakura grabbed another plate from the draining rack and dried it with the towel she had, putting it in the cupboard behind her. She grabbed another and decided to start a conversation.

"That was a good supper." Temari scoffed.

"Please, you don't have to be nice. I know I suck at cooking." Temari said as she frowned. Sakura stayed silent for awhile and spoke up again.

"I could teach you." Temari looked at her.

"Really?"

"Ya! But you have to let me cook breakfast and supper tomorrow." Temari nodded.

"But what about lunch?" she asked Sakura smiled.

"We'll be out, walking the town, so we'll just grab something." Temari nodded and smiled, going back to washing dishes. Soon they were done and Sakura realized her soaps were on.

"Oh my god! I almost missed my soaps! Come on Temari!" she screamed as she raced towards the TV room, opening the door and diving onto the couch, wrestling the remote before turning the TV on. She flipped through the channels and stopped on channel 21, grabbing a pillow. Temari just leaned against the door and watched as Sakura stared wide eyed at the television. She eventually walked over and sat beside her, looking at the screen. It looked like some guy and some girl were fighting over something(I have never seen a soap opera, so I'm completely making this up XD). Temari sighed and leaned on her arm. Sometime later, after Temari blanked out, Sakura shouted 'NO ROB!! DON'T LEAVE HER!' snapping her out of her acoma like trance.

"What's going on?"

"Rob just left Glinda for Marcie because he thought that Glinda had a baby with Diago which they named quin but IT'S NOT TRUE!!" Sakura finished, breaking into tears.

"What actually happened was Glinda was talking to Diago because they were life long friends and Rob, her boyfriend, over heard them talking. He misunderstood something and thought they were talking about naming a baby, not nick naming their friend. So he talked to Marcie, who happened to like him, and she said that he should dump Glinda, so Rob did!" Sakura explained in one breath. Temari blinked. Now she was even more confused. She sighed as Sakura sniffed again, turning off the TV because it said to be continued. It was officially 7:43 so they decided to watch a movie. Temari picked The Hills Have Eyes. Sakura hid behind a pillow the enitre movie while Temari had leaned forward to get more action, digging into her popcorn. They were at the part where the man had stolen the axe and was chopping up everything. Sakura hid again. Soon the movie ended and Sakura got to pick. She picked The English Patient(Never seen it). They watched, Sakura crying and hugging that same pillow. They were at the part where Katharine Clifton and Almasy were speaking.

'Promise me you'll come back for me.'

'I promise, I'll come back for you. I promise, I'll never leave you.'

Sakura burst out crying, Temari rolling her eyes at the cheesy lines. She looked at her watch, realizing it was 11:16pm, she turned off the movie. Sakura looked at her with red puffy eyes.

"It's 11:16 pm. We should go to bed." Sakura nodded and got up, trudging to bed. She said a quiet 'night' to Temari and closed her door, slipping into her cherry blossom silk pajamas and crawling under her wine red covers. She was tired, so she expected to fall asleep, but she couldn't. She tossed, but couldn't get comfortable. A memory of Naruto flashed into her head and she winced. She sighed and sat up. The movie had triggered her memories. It was only her first day in Suna, but with so much to do, she had forgotten him. She crawled out of bed and opened her window, stepping onto the sill and climbing onto the roof to look at the stars. The wind was calm so she could see them clearly. She lay down and moved her gaze from one shining dot to the next, an old memory coming with each. She blinked back tears as some were painful, but once she got ot the newer ones, the tears fell softy. She sat up and brushed them away, only to have others take their place. Crystal tears made their way down her smooth cheeks, falling to dampen the spot on her silk pajamas further. More fell as more memories flashed through her head. Tear tracks covered her cheeks, tears now falling onto the dusty roof. She buried her head in her arms, hiding the broken look in her eyes from the world. Her shoulders heaved with sobs as the tears came faster with each passing moment. It wasn't until she sensed a chakra beside her that she lifted her head slightly to find Gaara looking at her intently. She wiped away the remaining tears and tear stains, but some still remained, so they fell from her eyes. She looked over at Gaara as he sat down beside her.

"What's wrong?" he asked simply.

"Nothing." Sakura whispered as she looked out over the village. Gaara looked at her, the remanence of tears still in her eyes.

"Fine. I won't force you." Sakura looked at him, to see him looking back. He could now clearly see the dull and broken look in her eyes. His eyes had been like that. Jade stared into emerald for the longest time. Sakura looked into his eyes and felt she could tell him, for he had once been through the same thing. She turned her eyes away and sighed.

"I-It's just, it's hard to talk about." she finally spoke. Gaara stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. She took a deep breath and let it out.

"It's about something back in Konoha." Gaara nodded, now looking over the village also.

"Well, I guess I'll have to tell you the whole story. About 3 months back, I finally found that I had fallen in love with aruto. I told him and we became boyfriend and girlfriend. It was nice. He was always so funny, willing to do anything to cheer me up, taking me out, buying me stuff, it was perfect. It only became better when Sasuke returned. But about about a week ago, rumors started going around that I had been sleeping with Sasuke. Naruto found out and asked me if it was true. I protested. I would never do such a thing, but Hinata cam along and cut in 'but Sakura-chan, I saw you going into his house, and you didn't come out for awhile.'. Once again, I protested. I had never done such a thing, but this being Hinata, the truthful one, Naruto believed her. At first he was sad, avoiding me all the time, but then he started to get angry, abusive. He turned to beating me to take out his rage. I finally had enough so I asked Tsunade-sama to have a vacation, a mission, anything. And that's how I got here." Sakura finished and went silent, letting Gaara soak it all in. Gaara was amazed. He never thought that Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who changed him for the better, would turn to beating someone. He was angry with Naruto. He had a sudden urge to hurt him but he surpressed it, thinking it another one of his moods. He looked at Sakura and saw her looking at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Did you ever find out who started the rumors?" Sakura shook her head.

"Do you believe them? Did you sleep with Sasuke?" Sakura looked at him, shocked. How could he say that?

"Of course I don't believe them! I would never sleep with Sasuke! I hate him! I'm innocent!"

"Then, why do you care so much?" Sakura opened her mouth, but nothing came out so she closed it. Gaara continued.

"If you know that you didn't do it, then why should you care if everyone else thinks you did? You know you are in the right. And it's not your fault if Uzumaki can't see past the rumors. It's his fault for giving up on you." Gaara said plainly. Sakura looked at him. He was so right. He had never made more sense. Why should she care? She knew she was innocent, and it's Naruto's fault if he couldn't see that. Suddenly, she felt alot better. She smiled.

"Thanks Gaara. Your right, I shouldn't care what others say as long as I know I'm innocent. Your a good friend." she looked over and smiled, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before hopping back through her window. Gaara just sat there, touching the place where she had kissed him. It felt tingly. Gaara smirked. She was an interesting one.

**With Sakura**

Sakura blushed as she crept back into bed. Why had she kissed him?

**'Because he if FINE!!'**

_'Oh great, your back. I thought I got rid of you!'_

**'Nope, you can't get rid of me, because I am you! HA!! Just admit it, you like him!'**

_'Whatever.'_

**'Don't you whatever me missy! And see how you didn't deny it?'**

**'Oh just shut up!'**

_'But I didn't say anything.'_

**'CURSE YOU AND YOUR COMMON SENSE!!'** Inner Sakura yelled, making Sakura wince.

_'Jeez, be quiet!'_

**'Sorry. It's late, go to bed.'**

_'Night.'_

**'Night.'** Sakura felt the presence in her head fade away. She sighed. Did she really like Gaara? No, it was just friendship. Besides, it was her first day here, she couldn't like anyone, let alone the guy who almost killed her. Sakura sighed again and closed her eyes, falling into an uneasy sleep.

**Next Day**

Sakura cracked her eyes open and yawned, stretching. She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes, before flopping back down. She sighed and forced herself to roll off of the bed, trudging sleepily to the closet to pick out her outfit. She chose a pair of light blue jeans and a white mandarin style shirt. She put her hair up in a messy bun, some strands hanging in her face. Satisfied, she walked out of her room, down the hallway, and into the kitchen, turning the stove on. Soon Temari came down, still looking sleepy. Following her was Gaara, same as always, and last was Kankuro, who was in his pajamas, bed head evident. Sakura looked up and smiled when she heard them enter.

"Ohayogozaimasu(good morning)! Breakfast is almost ready! Please sit and it'll be right out." Sakura said cheerily. They all nodded and sat down at the table. Minutes later, Sakura came out carrying dishes and setting them down on the table. Once all of the dishes were out, she took a seat herself while everyone gazed at her food. That morning she had made Omuraisu, Gyoza and Onigiri(Omuraisu:cooked rice, wrapped in a thin omlet served with tomato ketchup, Gyoza: dumplings filled with minced vegetables and ground meat, Onigiri: cooked rice balls wrapped in seaweed with tuna, salmon or other in the middle).They all dished up, said 'Itadakimasu' and dug in. Temari and Kankuro's eyes widened at the heavenly taste. After eating Temari's food, it was like heaven in a meal. Gaara just took a bite, looked at it like it was his long lost brother who he loved, and ate more. The Sand Sibs were all eating quickly, Sakura smiling all the while. Soon though, the food was gone and everyone was content.

"That was really good Sakura!" Temari sighed.

"Ya! You outta make all of our meals." Kankuro added, patting his full stomach and belching. Gaara made a face at his brother.

"It was very good. Better than Temari's." Temari glared at him and Sakura laughed, slightly blushing at Gaara's comment.

_'Why am I blushing?'_

**'Because you like him! No scratch that, you LOVE him!'**

_'Shut up.'_ Sakura blinked as she shoved back her inner and looked at everyone. Temari was still glaring at Gaara, who was simply looking at her, and Kankuro had left to watch TV. Sakura sighed and started the water, plugging the sink and putting in some dish soap, loading the plates and cutlery(sp?) into the filling sink. She finished the dishes and dragged the now awake Temari out into the world, ready to have a more detailed tour and possibly convice Gaara to give her a mission.

**Me: Hi! I know most of you have been anxiously waiting for this chap to come out. the next might be a little slow, but its still coming. Review please!**


	4. Missing Kinda

Help in Unexpected Places

**Summary:** It's been years since Sasuke left, and Naruto and Sakura are dating. But when a rumor started going around (courtesy of the hyuuga heiress) about Sakura sleeping and possibly doing it with Sasuke while Naruto and Sakura were dating, and Naruto hears, he turns to beating Sakura. Confused, Sakura begs Tsunade for a mission and gets sent to Suna. Discovered crying one night on the roof of her apartment, will she confess her feelings to the person she least expected help from? GaaraxSakura.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own naruto. If I did...well, I don't think you wanna know.

**Note:** Naruto is extremely OOC as is Hinata.

"Bla" talking.

_'Bla' thoughts_

**'Bla' Inner Sakura/Shukaku**

**Somewhere in Suna**

"Temari! Have you found her yet?" Kankuro called frantically to his sister, who shook her head and ran off in a different direction. Kankuro scowled. The sand siblings had discovered this morning that Sakura wasn't in her bed. They went to the guards who had said that no one had entered or left the gates all night, so that meant she was still inside Suna. Gaara was becoming increasingly annoyed at all of the noise.

"Kankuro." he growled, making his brother freeze and turn.

"Y-Yes Gaara?"

"Stop being so loud." Kankuro gulped.

"B-But we have to find Sakura." Gaara turned his head and glared at his brother who tenses. Gaara sighed, rose from his seat and disappeared in a swirl of sand. Kankuro sighed. "Leaving us to do all the work, just like him." he mumbled before setting off again.

**With Sakura**

Sakura giggled as she walked down some unknown road. She had left her bed extremely early to go explore, so now everyone was looking for her. Realizing her looks were a problem, she bought an outfit with a hood to hide her hair. Sakura looked briefly behind her before darting off the road and down a path to what looked like an old training ground. She looked around a bit before resting her eyes on something. She gasped and ran up to it. Shielded behind a boulder, a small, budding flower had managed to peak its way out of the sand. Being shielded from the driving sand and wind allowed it to grow. Sakura gazed upon it, completely unaware of the chakra right behind her until she decided to get up, causing her to bump into somebody and fall down on her butt.

"Hey! That's extremely rude you kn-" Sakura began as she looked fiercely up at the person responsible, only to stop when she saw Gaara, looking at her. They stayed like that for awhile until Sakura cleared her throat and got up.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to bump into you."

"What were you looking at?" Gaara asked suddenly. Sakura looked at him before kneeling back down and pointing to the flower. Gaara looked at it like was a fish that was dancing to the cancan. Sakura giggled at his expression. Gaara turned his head to stare at her before getting up.

"Come on. Kankuro and Temari are worried and they won't stop yelling until your back." Gaara said in a mono tone. Sakura sighed and got up, following Gaara back to the Kazekage mansion, where Temari immediately crushed her in a hug.

"Where have you been? Where did you find her?" Sakura shrugged.

"Around."

"I found her at our old training grounds." Gaara replied to his question before going inside. Temari stared after him and blinked before turning to Sakura.

"What were you doing there?" once again, Sakura shrugged.

"I had no idea where I was going; I didn't know it was your old training ground." Temari looked at her a little longer before turning away. Sakura looked at the ground before speaking. "Hey Temari."

"Ya?"

"At your old training grounds, I found a flower shielded by a boulder. Only thing is, the boulder didn't look like it was supposed to be there. Care to explain?" Temari frowned and looked at the ground, seeming to be remembering something.

"It happened when we were training one day. Me and Kankuro were sparing a little too harshly and we both got beat up pretty bad. Gaara had been a little off so when he saw blood he went on one of his rampages. He destroyed lots of things and smashed up part of the Kazekage tower, throwing a boulder, trying to get it to hit somebody. It missed and ended up getting stuck in our training grounds." Temari explained quietly. Sakura nodded when she finished, slightly guilty for asking.

"Oh! Hey! I'm supposed to cook supper aren't I?" Temari looked at her and nodded slowly before looking at her watch. It was officially 3:23 pm. They had been searching for Sakura all day. Temari sweat dropped at this fact.

"You wanna head back now?" Sakura shrugged.

"Sure. Why not." she replied, setting off a brisk pace (remember, they were still standing), Temari following.

**Kazekage Mansion**

Sakura kicked in the doors, holding her hands in the form of a gun. She plastered herself against a wall, shuffling across the floor before peeking around the corner or the doorway, then somersaulting (sp?) across the doorway, landing in a crouched position. Temari watched all of this from the front doorway, blinking and staring at Sakura who had now jumped in front of the entrance to the living room, finger gun pointed everywhere. Temari sweat dropped.

"Sakura, you passed the kitchen." Sakura looked at her, running back to the kitchen and leaping through the entrance, crashing into the counter, making it's plates, cutlery and appliances crash onto her. Temari, who had stuck her head through the doorway, winced at the crashing noise. She walked up to Sakura, who was lying on the ground, covered in broken plates.

"You ok?" Sakura shrugged (again).

"Ya." Temari laughed slightly and helped the pink haired girl up, then started picking up the broken plates before putting them in the trash.

"Now, out! Shoo!! A master is at work here." Sakura said, pushing Temari out of the kitchen. Temari huffed and walked away from the room. Sakura grinned and got out ingredients and equipment she would need.

**Later**

"SUPPER'S READY!!! COME AND GET IT!!!" Sakura yelled, banging her supper bell (those huge ones), which echoed throughout the mansion. Kankuro came first.

"Where did you get that?"

"A shop. Now, MOVE MISTER! YOU'RE HOLDING UP THE LINE!!" Sakura shouted, prodding Kankuro in the back with a kunai to get him to move.

"Ow ow ow! Fine! Jeez." Kankuro complained, entering the kitchen, whiffing it's heavenly smell, drooling. He ran over rot the table and sat down, about to dig in when he got whapped over the head with an iron pan, becoming unconscious.

"NO PICKING MISTER!!" Sakura yelled. Temari sweat dropped as she entered the room and Gaara sighed and shook his head. The three sat, observing Sakura's food as Sakura explained what she had made.

"Today we will be dining on Oden (A nabe dish prepared with various fish cakes, daikon, boiled eggs, konyaku and kombu seaweed, boiled over many hours in a soya sauce based soup), Miso soup (Miso soup is often served as a side dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is made by dissolving miso paste in hot water and adding additional ingredients such as wakame seaweed and small pieces of tofu), Domburi (A bowl of cooked rice with some other food put on top of the rice. Some of the most popular toppings are tempura (tendon), egg and chicken (oyakodon), tonkatsu (katsudon) and beef (gyudon), and Sukiyaki (A nabe dish prepared with thinly sliced meat, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and shirataki (konyaku noodles). The pieces of food are dipped into a raw egg before eaten). I hope you guys like it!" Sakura said, smiling away as everyone stared at her food in awe. It smelled and looked so good, and there was so much of it. Sakura sat and they all started eating ravenously. After Temari's cooking, it tasted like heaven in a food. Soon, the food was gone and all plates were scraped clean. Sakura started washing the dishes, and soon, everyone had crashed on the couch and were not fighting over a movie. Well, Temari and Kankuro were. Gaara and Sakura were just sitting there, staring at them.

**Me: HI!! Sorry it took so long to update. School, guitar, tests, other. Sorry it's a crappy ending but I couldn't think of where to end it so I chose here. Review! Ja!**


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